September 13, 2008

RIM and TiVo Bringing Mobile Control to Your BlackBerry


Woh, woh! Hold on there killer! It’s not like the image above suggests that’s what WE would watch if RIM and TiVo built a streaming application… We’re just saying, you know? If you happen to have a TiVo hard drive full of old episodes of a certain show you enjoy, whatever that may be, this would enable you to watch them on the go. Ok good, we’re clear then. It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when you hear that RIM and TiVo have announced a partnership, but Sling Media and HAVA shouldn’t be shaking in their boots just yet. The initial announcement only covers an integration that would let BlackBerry-rocking TiVo users remotely view program guides and schedule recordings. Ok, that’s cool. Some might say however, that Jim’s statement alludes to the fact that we can expect a bit more as this new partnership evolves:

As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content.

Being able to schedule your box to record the next few episodes of Entourage while on the go is hardly “accessing television content,” so we’d like to think that Balsillie was pretty clear with his intentions. Now that the Bold gives us some 3G love, there’s no reason that someone shouldn’t provide a solid TV streaming app for BlackBerry!